.\" DO NOT MODIFY THIS FILE!  It was generated by help2man 1.47.6.
.TH MSGFMT "1" "July 2020" "GNU gettext-tools 20200704" "User Commands"
.SH NAME
msgfmt \- compile message catalog to binary format
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B msgfmt
[\fI\,OPTION\/\fR] \fI\,filename.po \/\fR...
.SH DESCRIPTION
.\" Add any additional description here
.PP
Generate binary message catalog from textual translation description.
.PP
Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short options too.
Similarly for optional arguments.
.SS "Input file location:"
.TP
filename.po ...
input files
.TP
\fB\-D\fR, \fB\-\-directory\fR=\fI\,DIRECTORY\/\fR
add DIRECTORY to list for input files search
.PP
If input file is \-, standard input is read.
.SS "Operation mode:"
.TP
\fB\-j\fR, \fB\-\-java\fR
Java mode: generate a Java ResourceBundle class
.TP
\fB\-\-java2\fR
like \fB\-\-java\fR, and assume Java2 (JDK 1.2 or higher)
.TP
\fB\-\-csharp\fR
C# mode: generate a .NET .dll file
.TP
\fB\-\-csharp\-resources\fR
C# resources mode: generate a .NET .resources file
.TP
\fB\-\-tcl\fR
Tcl mode: generate a tcl/msgcat .msg file
.TP
\fB\-\-qt\fR
Qt mode: generate a Qt .qm file
.TP
\fB\-\-desktop\fR
Desktop Entry mode: generate a .desktop file
.TP
\fB\-\-xml\fR
XML mode: generate XML file
.SS "Output file location:"
.TP
\fB\-o\fR, \fB\-\-output\-file\fR=\fI\,FILE\/\fR
write output to specified file
.TP
\fB\-\-strict\fR
enable strict Uniforum mode
.PP
If output file is \-, output is written to standard output.
.SS "Output file location in Java mode:"
.TP
\fB\-r\fR, \fB\-\-resource\fR=\fI\,RESOURCE\/\fR
resource name
.TP
\fB\-l\fR, \fB\-\-locale\fR=\fI\,LOCALE\/\fR
locale name, either language or language_COUNTRY
.TP
\fB\-\-source\fR
produce a .java file, instead of a .class file
.TP
\fB\-d\fR DIRECTORY
base directory of classes directory hierarchy
.PP
The class name is determined by appending the locale name to the resource name,
separated with an underscore.  The \fB\-d\fR option is mandatory.  The class is
written under the specified directory.
.SS "Output file location in C# mode:"
.TP
\fB\-r\fR, \fB\-\-resource\fR=\fI\,RESOURCE\/\fR
resource name
.TP
\fB\-l\fR, \fB\-\-locale\fR=\fI\,LOCALE\/\fR
locale name, either language or language_COUNTRY
.TP
\fB\-d\fR DIRECTORY
base directory for locale dependent .dll files
.PP
The \fB\-l\fR and \fB\-d\fR options are mandatory.  The .dll file is written in a
subdirectory of the specified directory whose name depends on the locale.
.SS "Output file location in Tcl mode:"
.TP
\fB\-l\fR, \fB\-\-locale\fR=\fI\,LOCALE\/\fR
locale name, either language or language_COUNTRY
.TP
\fB\-d\fR DIRECTORY
base directory of .msg message catalogs
.PP
The \fB\-l\fR and \fB\-d\fR options are mandatory.  The .msg file is written in the
specified directory.
.SS "Desktop Entry mode options:"
.TP
\fB\-l\fR, \fB\-\-locale\fR=\fI\,LOCALE\/\fR
locale name, either language or language_COUNTRY
.TP
\fB\-o\fR, \fB\-\-output\-file\fR=\fI\,FILE\/\fR
write output to specified file
.TP
\fB\-\-template\fR=\fI\,TEMPLATE\/\fR
a .desktop file used as a template
.TP
\fB\-d\fR DIRECTORY
base directory of .po files
.TP
\fB\-kWORD\fR, \fB\-\-keyword\fR=\fI\,WORD\/\fR
look for WORD as an additional keyword
.TP
\fB\-k\fR, \fB\-\-keyword\fR
do not to use default keywords
.PP
The \fB\-l\fR, \fB\-o\fR, and \fB\-\-template\fR options are mandatory.  If \fB\-D\fR is specified, input
files are read from the directory instead of the command line arguments.
.SS "XML mode options:"
.TP
\fB\-l\fR, \fB\-\-locale\fR=\fI\,LOCALE\/\fR
locale name, either language or language_COUNTRY
.TP
\fB\-L\fR, \fB\-\-language\fR=\fI\,NAME\/\fR
recognise the specified XML language
.TP
\fB\-o\fR, \fB\-\-output\-file\fR=\fI\,FILE\/\fR
write output to specified file
.TP
\fB\-\-template\fR=\fI\,TEMPLATE\/\fR
an XML file used as a template
.TP
\fB\-d\fR DIRECTORY
base directory of .po files
.PP
The \fB\-l\fR, \fB\-o\fR, and \fB\-\-template\fR options are mandatory.  If \fB\-D\fR is specified, input
files are read from the directory instead of the command line arguments.
.SS "Input file syntax:"
.TP
\fB\-P\fR, \fB\-\-properties\-input\fR
input files are in Java .properties syntax
.TP
\fB\-\-stringtable\-input\fR
input files are in NeXTstep/GNUstep .strings
syntax
.SS "Input file interpretation:"
.TP
\fB\-c\fR, \fB\-\-check\fR
perform all the checks implied by
\fB\-\-check\-format\fR, \fB\-\-check\-header\fR, \fB\-\-check\-domain\fR
.TP
\fB\-\-check\-format\fR
check language dependent format strings
.TP
\fB\-\-check\-header\fR
verify presence and contents of the header entry
.TP
\fB\-\-check\-domain\fR
check for conflicts between domain directives
and the \fB\-\-output\-file\fR option
.TP
\fB\-C\fR, \fB\-\-check\-compatibility\fR
check that GNU msgfmt behaves like X/Open msgfmt
.TP
\fB\-\-check\-accelerators\fR[=\fI\,CHAR\/\fR]
check presence of keyboard accelerators for
menu items
.TP
\fB\-f\fR, \fB\-\-use\-fuzzy\fR
use fuzzy entries in output
.SS "Output details:"
.TP
\fB\-a\fR, \fB\-\-alignment\fR=\fI\,NUMBER\/\fR
align strings to NUMBER bytes (default: 1)
.TP
\fB\-\-endianness\fR=\fI\,BYTEORDER\/\fR
write out 32\-bit numbers in the given byte order
(big or little, default depends on platform)
.TP
\fB\-\-no\-hash\fR
binary file will not include the hash table
.SS "Informative output:"
.TP
\fB\-h\fR, \fB\-\-help\fR
display this help and exit
.TP
\fB\-V\fR, \fB\-\-version\fR
output version information and exit
.TP
\fB\-\-statistics\fR
print statistics about translations
.TP
\fB\-v\fR, \fB\-\-verbose\fR
increase verbosity level
.SH AUTHOR
Written by Ulrich Drepper.
.SH "REPORTING BUGS"
Report bugs in the bug tracker at <https://savannah.gnu.org/projects/gettext>
or by email to <bug\-gettext@gnu.org>.
.SH COPYRIGHT
Copyright \(co 1995\-2020 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <https://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>
.br
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
The full documentation for
.B msgfmt
is maintained as a Texinfo manual.  If the
.B info
and
.B msgfmt
programs are properly installed at your site, the command
.IP
.B info msgfmt
.PP
should give you access to the complete manual.
